Cherry collapses in a sweaty heap on the bed and I slowly pull out of her. I go to the bathroom and clean up a little before bringing her a warm wash cloth.
“Come here, baby, let me take care of you,” I say and gently wipe her down.
I go back to the bathroom and start the tub. I think my girl and I could use a nice long soak.
LAYLA
Leaning back in the bathtub, I can feel the warm water already working on my sore muscles. The last forty-eight hours with Carter has made my whole body deliciously sore, and I need a moment to recover. Carter was about to get in the bathtub with me when Saint knocked on the door, calling him away about something. I wanted to ask what was going on, but I stopped myself. I wanted to show Carter that I trust him, that I was okay with whatever he had to do so that we could be free and clear of my father.
Reaching for the body wash, I notice that it’s the same cherry blossom one I use at home. Looking around the bathroom I notice a lot of things in here are just like what I have at home. Hair products, robe, lotion, and even the same fancy electric toothbrush I have. No matter how demanding and caveman-ish Carter can be, it always seems to wrap around to me. He’s making sure I have what I need, and doing what’s best for me. I still can’t believe that for one moment he thought I would have blamed everything on him. This was my father’s doing. Carter may have had one reason for working for my father, but from the moment we met, everything was for me. How could I not love him?
Resting my head on the side of the tub, I rub by hand over my tummy. I close my eyes and daydream about our baby and our future together, just enjoying the warm water.
Next thing I know, I’m in Carter’s arms and he’s pulling me from the tub. I’m not sure if I dozed off for a few minutes or longer.
“Cherry, baby, you’ve got to be more careful,” he admonishes me while gently toweling me off. He reaches down to take off his own shirt and slides it over my head. Then I’m back in his arms and he’s carrying me to the bed. He grabs the hair tie that’s currently holding my hair up, and pulls it loose so my hair tumbles down around my shoulders.#p#分页标题#e#
“I gotta go out for a few hours, okay, babe? I just got some information I really need to look into,” he says, wrapping a lock of my hair around his finger. I wonder if he even realizes what he’s doing.
“But it’s late. Don’t you want to crawl into bed and love on me?” I pout, trying to get him to stay. I know it’s already dark out. As much as I want this all to be done with, I hate the idea of Carter going out and “handling” it. What if he doesn’t come back? He’s already wasted so much of his life on this, first with his anger and fighting for revenge and now his fight for me – a fight that cost him eight years in prison. If I hadn’t been there he would probably have been free all these years. He’s spent so many years fighting for other people but has anyone ever really fought for him? He fought for his parents and fought to give them justice. Then he fought for me to live when he sacrificed himself to the cops saving me.
He leans down and kisses me softly on the lips. I grab his shoulders and try to deepen the kiss.
“You don’t fight fair,” he murmurs before lazily stroking his tongue against mine. When he starts to pull back I try to lock around him, but he’s quicker than me.
“Cherry, I gotta do this.”
“I know,” I huff, plopping back down into the bed. “Saint going with you?” I really don’t want him to go alone and I know he won't take me with him so I’m not even going to ask.
“Yeah, I need him with me on this. While I’m gone you keep your sweet ass in the warehouse. If you open a door, an alarm will alert me and I’ll be back here tanning your ass before you can blink,” he says, giving me his “you will obey me” look.
“Hmm…if I remember right, I rather enjoyed my last ‘ass tanning’ so you might want to think of something better,” I smirk before rolling over and wiggling my butt at him.
Leaning down, Carter takes a bite of my ass, making me squeal and turn back over to get away from him.
“Trust me. I’ll come up with something,” he says cockily and walks over to the closet, pulling out a new black shirt and black boots. He walks over to a picture in the wall and tugs it, opening it on a hinge. I see then that it hides a safe.
“This is our safe, Cherry. I’ve got money, passports, and hand guns in here. The combination is 1128. The day I first met you,” he says, turning to look at me.